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Electoral College: Systems
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Although today the electoral system is important, individual electors are not. But they can become significant if they go back on their pledges. For example, they may fail to vote for candidates they promised to vote for in order to press political points. They may vote for another candidate or someone who is not even running. Scholars call this the "faithless elector" problem. Such an incident happened in 2000.
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Proponents of the automatic plan argue that it would maintain the present electoral college system's balance between national and state powers and between large and small states. Proponents note that the automatic plan would eliminate the possibility of the "faithless elector." Furthermore, the automatic plan would preserve the present two-major party system under a state-by-state, winner-take-all method of allotting electoral votes.
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Most states use a winner-take-all system, in which the candidate with the most votes in that state receives all of the state's electoral votes. This gives candidates an incentive to pay the most attention to states without a clear favorite, such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida. For example, California, Texas, and New York, in spite of having the largest populations, have in recent elections been considered safe for a particular party (Democratic for California & New York; Republican for Texas), and therefore candidates typically devote relatively few resources, in both time and money, to such states.
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The current system awards electoral votes based on the size of a state's congressional delegation. Since each state has two senators regardless of the number of representatives, the playing field is leveled somewhat.
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Mathews reports the language of the initiative ... specifically adds "independent candidate" to the California Election Code, making it clear that even a candidate without a party could receive electoral votes. The initiative also argues that the current, winner-take-all system "impedes credible third party or independent candidacies for President." The initiative's text is available by clicking here.
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